


only a wish

by minouribia



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Happy Ending, no magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25836346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minouribia/pseuds/minouribia
Summary: Letting Regina go was perhaps the biggest mistake of her life.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	only a wish

“You’re Henry’s teacher?” Regina asks, and Emma returns her dumbstruck expression in earnest. Her heart flutters without warning, feeling much too hopeful for Emma's liking.

“Hi,” she says, cursing her own awkwardness. Regina doesn’t comment on it though, and continues staring at her like she’s wearing a clown costume in the middle of fall. “It’s… It’s been a while, huh?” 

“Yeah.” Her tone is flat, and Emma watches helplessly as she retreats into herself, behind a wall of thorns that only grow thicker when you try to cut them down. 

“Mama!” shouts a little boy- Henry. Regina’s son. Because Regina has a son now. 

Her face softens in an instant, and she crouches down to hug him. “Hello, honey. How was your first day?” 

“It was cool. I like Miss Swan a lot.” Regina’s jaw tenses, but she fights to stay calm for Henry’s sake. 

“Really? Well, I’m glad.” Regina shoots to her feet, taking his hand. “Did you make any friends?” 

“Yuh!” Regina glances at Emma one more time over her shoulder as they walk away, as if she’s trying to convince herself that Emma isn’t actually here, and Emma waves. Because she’s an idiot.

Regina turns away, and she’s left there, surrounded by other kids reuniting with their parents after school, and feeling like a badly bandaged wound has been cut open again. 

* * *

Letting Regina go was perhaps the biggest mistake of her life. She didn’t just lose her girlfriend that day, she lost the best friend she’s ever had. 

After 5 years she came to terms with the fact she’d never see Regina again, and she’d tried to move on with her life, accepting the fact there would always be an empty space in her heart. 

Except, Regina is back in Storybrooke after 10 years, and Emma is at a complete loss. Even worse than that, Regina is a table away at Granny’s. 

In a split second decision where all logic escapes her, Emma grabs her hot chocolate, and takes a seat across from her. Regina jumps when she notices Emma. 

“Miss Swan,” she greets coldly. 

“Hi, Regina,” Emma says, searching her mind for anything she could say to make this better. 

“Why are you here-”

“I’m sorry for believing Robin,” Emma blurts out suddenly. Regina stares at her for a long moment, and for the briefest moment, Emma thinks she can see something other than indifference and disdain. “I know it doesn’t change anything, but I was scared, and I was an insecure idiot.” 

“You’re right, it doesn’t change anything.” She tries to fight it, but Emma’s face falls despite the fact she’s the one who caused this. “But, I’m glad you realize that.” 

“I’m… I’m just so sorry, Regina. I regret it so much, and I’m so sorry. I-” 

“How long did it take for you to realize Robin is a fucking liar,” she says, ignoring Emma’s apologies. 

“I… 2 years,” Emma admits, not meeting Regina’s eyes. “It took me awhile to put the pieces together. Too long. And by the time I got my head out of my ass, you were long gone, and I had no idea how to find you.”

“I see.” 

“Regina, I just… is there anything I can do…? Is there a chance…?” 

“I don’t know, Emma. 10 years is a long time.” 

“I-”

“I’ll be taking my leave now,” Regina says suddenly, dropping a few bills on the table. Emma watches uselessly as Regina walks away once again. 

“Oh, that’s rough. Are you done with that?” Ruby asks, collecting the bills. Emma nods with her eyes still on the door. 

* * *

Regina avoids her for a month after the incident at Granny's. Emma can't blame her for that. 

They aren't friends per-say, but they've made progress. A lot of it. 

Enough that Regina doesn't scoff at her presence, and they can stand next to each other without awkwardness. But maybe the change goes to Emma's head, because by the next parent-teacher conference, she's gotten bolder than she probably should. 

“Regina, I-”

“Does this have to do with Henry?” Regina quickly cuts her off, eyes never leaving the wall behind Emma. 

“Well, not exactly-”

“Then I don’t see why you need to discuss it right now. This meeting is about Henry, is it not?”

“Yes, but we’ve already discussed what we need-" 

“Great,” she says, standing. “I’ll see you next month.” 

“Regina, please…” 

“No, I am not talking to you if it isn’t about Henry. We are not friends.” Emma blinks, feeling like she’s been thrown onto the tile floor, and she folds even further under Regina’s unwavering gaze. 

“Regina, please-” 

“I think we’re done here,” she all but snarls, walking past Emma. 

“Please, just let me explain!” Regina freezes in her tracks, turning to Emma slowly. Her face is dangerously impassive, and Emma knows she’s crossed a line in an instant. 

“Explain?” she says slowly, trying to comprehend it. “Explain?” she repeats, voice rising a pitch. “You never let _me_ explain, Emma. Why would I let _you_ explain. 10 years later, no less.” 

“Regina, I was an idiot-” 

“Yes, you really were, Miss Swan. You still are. You have no right to make demands of me. I don’t have to listen to whatever bullshit excuse you’ve come up with to justify abandoning me like that.” 

“Regina,” Emma says softly, walking over to her. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, you fucking aren’t,” she says with enough venom and force to make Emma falter for only a moment. “You never cared, so stop acting like you do. You threw me aside the first chance you got. I was… I was nothing to you. Stop acting like I was.” 

“Regina,” Emma repeats, pulling her into a hug Regina doesn’t return. She makes no attempt to escape, and lays her chin on Emma’s shoulder, and it’s enough to let her know Regina doesn’t mind. “You were never nothing to me. You’re everything.”

“You have a terrible way of showing it. You barely gave me a chance to say anything. You just… left.” 

“I’m a fucking idiot, Regina. I was selfish, and I let insecurity overwhelm me, and I was so stupid to trust him with proof that I could’ve figured out was fake if I used my goddamn brain.” Emma tightens her grip around Regina, and Regina lets herself be pulled closer. “I know it’s selfish of me to say this, and my own damn fault, but I missed you so much. I always wished I’d see you again one day, and I’d apologize, and we’d be okay again.” 

“I missed you too, and I felt so stupid for it because you clearly didn’t miss me. I wanted to hate you so much, but I was... I was so in love with you. I still am. Then you just... left. I waited for you to come back, to admit you're a goddamn idiot, but you never did."

“I'm so sorry. I fucked up so badly, and I can't apologize enough for that.” Emma sighs. “Let me make it up to you. Whether that’s as a friend or… or whatever. I’m so sorry I made you feel like that for years.”

“I can’t forgive you,” says Regina, clinging closer.

"That's alright. I'll still be here for you."

“You never let me finish, do you?" Regina says, moving her head to rest against Emma's neck. "I can't forgive you. Not right now, at least. But I want to. One day. As long as you never do something stupid like that again."

"I may be an idiot, but I'm not a fool. I'm not leaving, and I'll stay as long as you want me to."

"Okay." 

* * *

“Mama, why is Miss Swan here? I thought school was over for the year?” Henry asks, walking into the kitchen. 

“She’s making us breakfast, sweetie. I was just about to call you down,” says Regina. Emma hums along, wrapping an arm around Regina under the kitchen table, out of Henry's sight. 

“Oh, cool. What’d she make- oh! Pancakes!” Henry excitedly grabs his plate, and shoves some onto it. 

“Mhm. Your mom’s favorite. Don’t even try and deny it.” 

“Oh, hush, you idiot.”


End file.
